WHEN establishing the theme and location of a layout,populating it with traction typical of the area painted in signature local liveries will quickly establish the layout’s credentials.
For example, modelling the Glasgow suburban area in BR days calls for distinctive EMUs painted in either SPT orange and black or the more up-to-date carmine and cream scheme, which will instantly help to place the layout.
To establish the feel of a layout based on that area, some kit building, conversions and a lot of repainting in any scale is inevitable to achieve the desired character and at least two or more trains alongside infrastructure, signage and road vehicles will need to be modelled. However, it will be all the more worth it in having a unique layout with a realistic theme and setting.
The same approach has been applied to the author’s ‘N’ gauge West Midlands-based layout where Centro would be the local passenger Transport authority or PTE in real life for the modelled time period. Centro livery was applied to multiple units working in the area including Class 323s and Class 150s too, and was not always available in out-the-box form. It shouts West Midlands and that is the reason for populating the layout with green Centro Class 150s to start with and working towards several similarly decorated Class 323s based on conversions around the Graham Farish Class 158. A lot of work is needed to populate even a small layout to that extent, especially with models of trains like the Class 150/0 and Class 323.
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Esta historia es de la edición May 2020 de Rail Express.
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LNER puts remaining ‘91s' into warm store
The ongoing pandemic restrictions and major engineering works have resulted in the complete withdrawal of the last remaining ‘Electras’ from passenger service, although the plan is to resurrect them in the summer.
Mk.1 Restaurant-Buffet (RBR) cars
A SURPRISING number of Mk.1catering cars have survived to see service on the privatised railway, in private operator and charter trains. They may turn up on anything from an enthusiast special to higher-end dining trains and have been formed in trains as prestigious as the locomotive-hauledBlue Pullman’ set, the ‘Great Britain’ tours operated by West Coast Railways and the ‘Northern Belle’ tour train.
Powerscene
Our authoritative class-by-class review of newsworthy locomotive workings.
End for Freightliner Class 86/6s
The company’s Class 86/6 fleet down to just two examples as seven locos are stored.
Service reductions as Covid cases increase
An increase in Covid-19 cases in early January saw the governments in Ireland and Northern Ireland impose stricter lockdown measures that impacted on public transport.
East West Rail funding go-ahead
Although it was expected, £760 million of funding has now been confirmed to build the Western Section of the East West Railway scheme.
Travellers-Fare with Hornby's Mk.1 Restaurant-Buffet car
Hornby expands its range of retooled ‘OO’ gauge Mk.1 coaches with a brand new tooling for the Diagram 24 Restaurant-Buffet car (RB) and the Diagram 33 refurbished version (RBR). It models the vehicles in both original form, finished in BR maroon and Southern Region green, together with the RBR refurbished coaches. They remained in frontline service well into the 1990s, including Cross-Country workings.
Class 92 revolution
Despite its complex shape and high detail ratio compared to other modern six-axle locomotives, Revolution Trains chose the Class 92 to be its first 'N' gauge locomotive model.
Bottling it!
A dig into the Rail Express archive has revealed some rarely-seen photographs of the former rail-connected Express Dairy bottling plant in South West London, which today is the site of a large mosque.
1990s ‘N' gauge Class 950
Work on the ‘N’ gauge Class 950 Track Recording Unit project, a conversion based on a standard Graham Farish Class 150/1 model, is concluded by finishing the model in 1990s condition.
